


Ben and Rey sitting in a tree....

by Hellyjellybean



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Babysitting, Ben Solo and Rey are friends, Ben and Rey and babysitting, But maybe they are mean to be more?, Children, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluffy, Friendship/Love, Funny, Gingerrose - Freeform, Love, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, Reylo - Freeform, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Rose Ships It, Rose and Hux are married, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love, baby gingerrose ships it, reylo prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellyjellybean/pseuds/Hellyjellybean
Summary: This one shot is based on a Reylo Prompt:Rey and Ben are friends who occasionally help babysit Rose and Hux's four-year-old daughter Penelope. Penelope asks Auntie Rey why she and Uncle Ben don't live together when Ben looks at Rey the same way her daddy looks at her mommy.Enjoy!
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 95
Kudos: 484
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	Ben and Rey sitting in a tree....

‘Auntie ReyRey?’ 

‘Yes Pennylane?’ 

‘How come you and Uncle Ben don’t live together?’ 

Rey smiled down at her goddaughter. ‘Well we used to be roommates, but when Uncle Ben got a fancy new job in the city he moved out.’ 

‘But married people should live together,’ Penelope said with a frown.

Rey laughed as she plated up Penolope’s dinner of potato smiles and fish fingers. She started to cut up the food into tiny pieces.

‘I can cut them myself!’ Penelope insisted.

‘Okay,’ Rey said. Handing her a child sized knife and fork. ‘But you need to be very careful.’ 

She watched the little girl frown as she concentrated on slicing up her food. ‘Do you and Ben not love each other anymore?’ she asked. 

‘I love Ben very much. I just don’t love him in the same way that your Mammy and Daddy love each other. Uncle Ben and I are just friends.’ 

‘Just friends. Not married,’ Penelope said. 

‘That’s right.’ 

The little girl took a bite out of a smiley and chewed thoughtfully. 

‘But Uncle Ben looks at you like Daddy looks at Mommy.’ 

Rey stopped cleaning up and looked at Penelope. Although she was still very young, Rey knew how intuitive and observant her darling godchild was. 

‘What do you mean, hunny?’ she asked. 

‘Uncle Ben looks at you like Daddy looks at Mommy,’ Penelope repeated looking at Rey as if she were stupid. 

Rey narrowed her eyes. ‘Did your Mommy put you up to this?’ 

Rey had to ask. Rose was relentless in her attempts to make them into a couple. It was one of the reasons she always insisted they had to babysit Penelope together. Penelope shook her head. 

‘Nope. Mommy told me not to say anything.’ 

That surprised Rey. Rose told her daughter to keep it a secret?

‘Why did mommy tell you not to say anything?’ 

‘She said that I had to wait for you two to figure it out for yourselves,’ Penelope said as she popped a piece of fish finger in her mouth. Rey looked at the little girl, her mouth wide open in shock. 

Ben chose that very moment to appear in the doorway after tidying up the living room. 

‘What are my two favourite girls talking about?’ he asked with an easy smile. Rey looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Ben always did say she was his favourite girl. She never really thought about it before, and he often placed his arm across her shoulders when they went out together. Which was often. More often than she went out with anyone else in fact. A lot of people had probably already assumed they were...

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Ben asked. 

Rey blinked at him. ‘No reason.’ 

Ben furrowed his brow and came towards her. ‘Come on Rey, I know you well enough to know when something is wrong.’ 

Rey laughed nervously. ‘Nothing is wrong! Honestly.’ 

Ben smirked and glanced at Penelope. ‘Should I tickle it out of her?’ he asked. Penelope nodded her head enthusiastically as she ate. 

Ben stalked towards Rey, but in her confused and disoriented state, Rey really didn’t want Ben’s hands on her. 

‘No! Don’t!’ she called out. Ben stopped in his tracks.

‘Rey tell me, what is it?’ 

Rey shook her head. ‘Not now.’ 

Penelope finished up her food. ‘She means she wants to wait until I’m in bed,’ she said casually as she sipped her juice. Ben laughed. 

‘We have nothing left to teach you, do we, kiddo?’ he walked towards Penelope and picked her up under one arm, making the little girl squeal with delight. 

‘Come on it's bath time.’ 

He carried her up the stairs as she giggled uncontrollably. 

Rey cleaned up the dishes and tried to banish the uncomfortable thoughts from her mind. But they refused to budge. She had to admit that Ben was always there for her. Always. He helped her out with rent. He cooked for her. He was her shoulder to cry on when yet another of her deadbeat boyfriends hit the road. Ben was the only stable, constant thing in her life, apart from Rose, Hux and Penelope. 

Was it really so outlandish to imagine that Ben could be a good boyfriend? That maybe Ben really did have feelings for her that went beyond those of friendship? She glanced up at the ceiling above her head and could hear Ben running Penelope’s bath. She bit her lip. 

Could the one she had been searching for for so long, really have been right under her nose the entire time? 

**********

  
Upstairs, Penelope gleefully filled the bath with an entire bottle of Frozen bubble bath. 

‘I want lots of bubbles!’ she shouted. Ben laughed as he undressed her then checked the temperature of the water. It was acceptable. 

‘In you go,’ he said lifting her up and lowering her down into the water. Penelope immediately splashed him and Ben pretended to cough and splutter much to Penelope’s delight. They played her favourite game ‘coffee shops’ where she filled two beakers with water and topped them off with a pyramid of bubbles to make a ‘cappacleno’ 

Ben waxed lyrical about how wonderful his drink was as he pretended to sip from the beaker. He momentarily distracted Penelope while pouring the contents of the beaker down the sink then rubbing his tummy with a satisfied smile when she turned to look at him once more. 

‘Penelope, do you have any idea why Rey was upset before?’ Ben asked carefully. 

Penelope nodded. 

‘Could you tell Uncle Ben?’ 

Penelope collected a pile of bubbles in her hands then blew them into the air. ‘Maybe…’ 

Ben cocked an eyebrow at the little negotiator. ‘Alright, What do you want?’ 

‘Two stories at bedtime.’ 

‘Deal.’ 

Penelope smiled. ‘Auntie ReyRey is upset because I asked her why you weren’t married to each other.’ 

Ben’s heart began to beat wildly in his chest just hearing their names and the word ‘married’ in the same sentence. 

Yup, he was truly pathetic. 

‘What did Rey say when you asked her that?’ 

‘She said she loved you but not like Mommy and Daddy loved each other.’ 

Ben’s heart slumped. He nodded at Penelope. ‘That’s true, and I love Rey but just as a friend.’ 

Penelope huffed out a breath and fixed Ben with a look that conveyed a level of intelligence and understanding well beyond her years. 

‘Then how come you look at Auntie ReyRey like Daddy looks at Mommy?’ 

Ben blinked. ‘Do I?’ 

Penelope nodded and rolled her eyes. Then she started to sing ‘Let it go’ at the top of her lungs. 

Ben thought about what Penelope had said. Was he really that obvious that even a child could see through him? Shit. Did Rey know how he felt about her? He had gone to great lengths to keep his secret hidden. Even going so far as to move out of their shared apartment. 

He knew Rey didn’t feel the same way, so the last thing he wanted was for her to find out that he had been in love with her since their very first meeting. She would want to put some distance between them so he could ‘get over’ her. A foolish notion that he himself had once entertained before realising it just wasn’t possible. 

He had accepted the truth now, that he would love Rey Johnson until his dying day and if he couldn’t date her he was at least satisfied to have her as his best friend and get to see that soul energising smile every chance he got. 

‘Uncle Ben? Can I get out now?’ 

Ben shook his head and forced himself back to the present. ‘Of course sweetie, I’m so sorry. Uncle Ben was just thinking really hard.’ 

‘About Auntie ReyRey?’ Penelope said with a smile as Ben plucked her out of the tub and wrapped her up in a large fluffy towel. 

‘I was thinking about how it is already way past your bedtime,’ Ben said carrying Penelope through to her bedroom and rubbing his nose against hers. ‘Right, PJs, teeth brushed and then bed.’ 

‘Two stories before bedtime, Uncle Ben. You promised.’ 

Ben rubbed her dry and pulled her my little pony nightie over her head. 

‘Yes two stories,’ he said with a smile. He glanced at the floor and listened to Rey’s footsteps beneath them. He wondered what she was thinking at that moment. Was she thinking about him? Had she discovered his secret? Was this the night that he would lose her for good?

**********

  
Rey paced back and forward in the kitchen. The more she thought about being with Ben Solo, the more it made perfect sense. He knew her better than anyone, he knew her shitty past and he still stuck around, and there had always been a strong attraction there. She had always thought Ben handsome. Hell, it was more than that. She thought he was the best looking man on the planet. But she tried not to think about Ben like that because they were friends and because once she started thinking about him in the way, it was hard to stop. He was just so… overwhelming. 

The amount of times the man had walked around their apartment topless, what was she supposed to do? Not look? Of Course she bloody looked. She looked every chance she got. She only saw him fully naked once but it was enough. Enough to make her realise that sex with Ben Solo must be one hell of an enjoyable workout. 

While they had lived together, he always made her breakfast in bed, he always brought her flowers from the farmers market, he always rubbed her shoulders after a hard day at work and she recalled she had never warmed to any of his girlfriends. But that was normal, right? It was just that no one was good enough for her Ben. Her Ben. Is that how she thought of him? As hers? She did. She did think of Ben as hers. 

Rey stepped on a teddy bear as she paced and it shouted out ‘1...2….3…’ in a high pitch voice. Rey stopped dead and her eyes widened. 

‘Oh my god, I’m in love with Ben Solo,’ she whispered. 

‘Surprise!’ shouted the teddy bear. 

**********

  
‘Then Elsa and Anna skated together on the courtyard covered in ice and everyone lived happily ever after. The End.’ Ben closed the book and breathed a sigh of relief. 

‘Again!’ Penelope shouted. 

‘I’ve read it twice. That was the deal.’ 

Penelope pouted and folded her arms. Ben pulled the covers up around her. ‘Come on now, Mommy and Daddy will be home soon and if they don’t find a sleeping little girl when they get back, they might not let Auntie Rey and I babysit again.’ 

Penelope's eyes opened wide with worry, she lay down quickly and squeezed her lids closed. Ben smiled down at his goddaughter. He lifted himself up off the small bed and leaned down to kiss Penelope's forehead, brushing a few ginger curls behind her ear as he did so. 

‘Sweet dreams, Penny,’ he whispered as he tried to leave the room as quietly as a man built like an Ikea wardrobe with all the trimmings could. 

‘Night Uncle Ben, go tell Auntie ReyRey you love her,’ yawned the little sleepy girl as she rolled over and snuggled into her pillow. 

**********

  
Ben found Rey sitting on the sofa in the living room. She looked very tense. Her back was straight as a rod and her hands were clasped together in her lap. He approached her cautiously. 

‘Rey? Is there something you want to tell me?’ 

Rey looked up at him with a serious expression and nodded. She looked terrified. Ben started to panic. She knew. She knew he was in love with her and she was going to tell him they couldnt see each other anymore for his own good. Ben sat down in the armchair to Rey’s left. Rey turned her body towards him, took a deep breath and started talking. 

‘Penelope said something tonight that made me think, she said that…’ 

‘She said that she thought you and I were married, yeah, she told me too. Kids, huh? They say the craziest things.’ 

‘Yes, but it was something else she said that really made me think…’ 

Alarm bells started to go off in Ben’s head. He couldn’t take the rejection. He couldn’t bear to hear it from her lips. He had to be the one to put a stop to this. He jumped out of his seat. 

‘Rey, I think I know what you’re going to say and look, it's fine, okay? I can deal with it. Nothing needs to change between us.’ 

Rey looked crestfallen. 

‘You don’t want anything to change?’ she said quietly.

‘No, I never want to stop being your friend. I don’t want to lose you. Can things please just stay exactly as they are?’ 

Tears formed in Rey’s eyes. ‘I don’t think they can…’ 

Ben’s heart ached. ‘Sure they can!’ He crouched in front of her and took her hands in his. ‘We can get past this, we’ve been through worse. I’ve lived with this for years, it’s no big deal.’ 

‘You’ve known for years? How?’ Rey asked. 

Ben shrugged, no point in hiding the truth now. He might as well get it all out in the open. 

‘I’ve known since the first moment I met you, Rey. There was nothing I could do to stop it. It was like a bolt of lightning hit me right between the eyes and... bang! I was a goner. So you see, nothing needs to change because I’ve been dealing with this our entire friendship and nothing bad has come of it. I mean, sure, in a perfect world you would love me the way I love you but I’ll settle for just being your friend. Because that’s enough. I swear it’s enough for me. Just please don’t shut me out. I don’t need space to get over you. I really don’t.’ 

‘You… you think I want you to get over me?’ 

Ben blinked. ‘Isn’t that what you wanted to tell me? That you’d figured out I’m in love with you?’ 

Rey laughed with delight and smiled. She reached out and put a hand on Ben’s cheek. 

‘No, Ben. What I wanted to tell you was that I’ve finally figured out I’m in love with you.’ 

Ben couldn’t have heard her right. Was Rey really smiling at him and gently caressing his cheek and telling him she couldn’t believe she hadn’t realised before that he was the one.

That she couldn’t believe she actually thought there would be a man better suited to her than the man who was crouched before her right now begging to be allowed to stay a part of her life when his only crime was loving her too much? 

‘Do you really love me?’ Ben asked. He needed to hear her say it again. He had waited so long to hear those words from her lips. 

‘I do. I really do. I love you, Ben Solo. I think I always have.’ 

His arms reached for her. He crushed her against his chest and lifted her up as he stood. Rey wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he held her. After a few embraced moments, Rey looked deep into Ben’s eyes and tentatively pressed her lips to his. 

Ben felt light headed. He kissed Rey back, trying not to suffocate her with years of pent up affection. Trying and failing. But Rey didn’t seem to mind. In fact she seemed quite appreciative as she moaned into his mouth. 

Someone nearby cleared their throat. Rey and Ben both turned their heads in unison to see Rose and Hux looking back at them with matching amused expressions. 

Rey and Ben looked back to each other and laughed. Rose grinned at them both and clapped her hands.

‘Finally!’ she cried. 

Hux breathed a sigh of relief. ‘You have no idea how pleased I am that we might now be able to have a conversation in this house about something other than how ridiculously clueless you two are.’ 

Rose elbowed him in the ribs. 

Ben lowered Rey to the ground and joined their hands together.

‘How’s my little girl?’ Rose asked.

‘A perfect little angel, as always,’ Rey replied. 

Ben brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it before he turned to Rose. 

‘Actually I have your daughter to thank for this, I’m planning on opening a trust fund in her name tomorrow, and tell her next time I babysit I’ll read Frozen sixty times over, hell, I’ll even dress up like Elsa if she wants me to.’ 

‘Oh, believe me, she will want you to,’ Hux said with an exasperated look. He dodged out of the way of the second elbowing heading his way from Rose.

Rey giggled and glanced up at Ben lovingly. 

Rose looked at them both with knowing eyes. ‘Well, I’m sure you two are eager to get away, don’t let us keep you any longer.’ 

Ben couldn’t pull Rey to the door fast enough.

‘We’ll see you guys soon, bye!’ Rey called hurriedly as Ben spirited her away to his car. 

Rose smiled. ‘I’ll go check on Penelope,’ she said reaching up to kiss Hux quickly before heading up the stairs. She peeked into her daughter’s room, and watched with amusement as one of Penelope’s eyes cracked open. Rose entered and sat on the side of her daughter’s bed. 

‘Did it all go to plan?’ she asked. 

Penelope nodded. ‘Yes, I said exactly what you told me too, Mommy.’ 

Rose grinned at her daughter. ‘You are such a clever girl! Mommy is very proud of you.’ 

Penelope beamed. ‘So tomorrow I get my reward?’ 

‘You do indeed, Sweetheart,’ Rose said as she kissed her daughter’s cheek and headed for the door. ‘Three Frozen stories.’ 

‘In costume?’ Penelope asked, hopefully. 

‘In costume,’ Rose confirmed as she left the room. Hux appeared at the top of the stairs. He put his arms around his wife. 

‘How is she?’ he asked. 

‘Fine, still awake but she will be asleep soon.’ 

‘Did you have something to do with those two finally getting together?’ Hux asked with a suspicious expression on his face. 

Rose blinked up at him. ‘How could I have? I was with you the whole time.’ 

Hux frowned. ‘That is true… anyway, let’s go downstairs and break into our dessert doggie bag.’ He started back down the stairs. 

‘Okay, Darling. There is something I need to tell you though, I promised Penelope you would read Frozen for her three times tomorrow and I said you would wear the costume.’ 

Hux groaned as they moved through to the kitchen. ‘Fine. I can never say no to my little girl.’ 

Rose grinned up at him. ‘Yes, our daughter can be very persuasive.’ 

‘Why do I feel like there is a story behind that comment?’ Hux pondered. 

Rose didn’t answer. She just opened their doggie bag and popped a piece of brownie into her mouth then smirked smugly. 

It wasn’t until she gave a speech at Rey and Ben’s tenth wedding anniversary celebration, that Rose finally admitted the truth. Everyone clapped and cheered, Ben and Rey included. 

Penelope winked at her Mom across the room and continued to show Ben and Rey’s 8 year old daughter Rosie, the many pictures she had salvaged and saved on her phone of all the cherished memories she had from the days when Rey and Ben would come to babysit. 

**********


End file.
